342 - Paul Kingsnorth - Becoming Gods Without God

In this conversation with Paul Kingsnorth, we discuss his main takeaways from his Substack series on The Machine, technology, artificial intelligence and silicon valley, civilization, principalities, the act of creation and desiring to be God, yet also creating the space for our annihilation. We also touch on environmentalism, storytelling, and art, including Tolkien and The Matrix. Enjoy.

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/BCIRA9wRkIA
His Substack: https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/

Join me and Richard Rohlin for the Symbolic World course on Dante's Inferno: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses-pages/dantes-inferno

Previous conversations with Paul Kingsnorth:
- Civilization and Control: https://youtu.be/QetAHfg7w8s?si=mVSI0fOTFiroIwTb 
- Environmentalism, the Tower of Babbel, and the Disintegration of Culture: https://youtu.be/uqDWGdJJx1Y?si=At5HMZaDohzgAFvm

Timestamps:
00:00 - Coming up
01:01 - Intro music
01:26 - Introduction
02:11 - What are your main insights?
07:19 - Can this serve God?
10:53 - Become dependent on tools
13:05 - The god of economy
14:44 - The short history of progress
16:05 - No conspiracy needed
19:35 - A desire to supplant us
22:12 - Theosis
24:27 - Making vs giving birth
27:02 - Creation myths
28:09 - The environmental narrative
35:54 - How has your perception on story changed?
39:33 - Changing Paul's writing
41:47 - Language and AI in Writing
45:32 - The Influence of art
53:19 - Tolkien and a simple ending
56:54 - New stories

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My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.